Artosphere Kickoff

Six Week Artosphere
Festival Begins

By Richard Davis

TFW Staff Writer

The six-week long Artosphere Festival kicks off tonight (Friday, April 22) with the “Garden as Muse” artists reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Walton Arts Center’s Joy Pratt Markham Gallery. “Garden as Muse, curated by Andrea Packard, features botanically inspired works by Sally Apfelbaum, Markus Baenziger, Syd Carpenter, Lois Dodd and Sarah McEneaney.

In addition, Fayetteville musician Shannon Wurst will perform at 5:30 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the WAC, and The DePue Brothers Band will begin playing at 5:45 p.m. on the plaza in front of the building.

Gallery opening remarks will start at 6:16 and the curator will speak at 6:30. At about 7 p.m., Peter Lane, WAC president/CEO, will offer details about the 2011 festival, the second year for Artosphere. The DePue Brothers will perform again following this.

According to the WAC website, the first Artosphere entertained more than 20,000 people. A $79 pass offers access to all of Artosphere, though some events still need reservations to guarantee a seat.